


The benefit of the doubt

by bisexualowain



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friends With Benefits, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 19:12:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16729089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualowain/pseuds/bisexualowain
Summary: Corrin and Silas have been best friends since they were kids, but their relationship has surely changed over the years, and it may very well do so again.





	The benefit of the doubt

**Author's Note:**

> My Nagamas gift to Twitter user @barehnsia! I wanted to get this done earlier, but Black Friday sales were very exhausting on me at my job. But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!
> 
> It was a bit of a challenge to not only write a fwb dynamic for the first time, but also to write this pairing in a setting where they're NOT basically married for 20+ years, which tends to be my ballpark for most of my ships.
> 
> We all know that the real benefit of friendship with Silas is the fact that you get to be friends with Silas. But I'm also really convinced Corrin has top tier taste in men.
> 
> (ps: I thought Nanna/Linoan in your prompts was a really cute idea for a ship. They'd be great together!!!)

The intense heat of the afternoon had only just died down when Corrin received that text.

Looking for his buzzing phone amid assorted clothes and gear he was bringing home from the gym, Corrin already started to wonder if it maybe was one of those texts.

Did he even want it to be that kind of text right now? He doubted whether he was actually in the mood for it, but he also knew himself well enough to know that he would drop everything else he was doing that night in order to fit it into his schedule.

Moving his underwear out of a pile of clothes that should probably not have been mixed, because some needed to be washed while some others were fresh, Corrin was greeted by the familiar lock screen. A picture of them together, taken by one of his older sisters.

For some reason or another, the young man felt compelled to swipe on the screen and move away from his apps, so she could simply look at the picture again. He was definitely not, in any way, shape or form, anxiously ignoring the message.

His chest swelled and then tightened. It wasn’t as if what they had now was bad… Corrin would be a massive liar if he ever said he didn’t enjoy their meetings, and the way they were together during them… but something about it all had recently started bugging him.

It was not the sex. It was definitely not a problem of him – or the other man, for that matter – not being satisfied when it came to the actual rutting of it, but rather, a problem of the dynamic.

“I have the night off and really want to see you,” Corrin read Silas’ text out loud, to no one in particular. “My place?” 

“Sure! I was getting bored at home anyways,” Corrin replied, like a liar, his fingers shaking as he attempted to hold the phone right. 

He fought with himself, not knowing if he should wait for a reply or not. Tossing his phone towards the general direction of his bed, Corrin hurried towards the bathroom.

On the one hand, he wanted the shower to be quick, so he could then focus on actually driving to Silas’ place, but on the other, he had just been at the gym and really needed to be fresh and clean… moreover, the mere thought of seeing what Silas had responded to him with had began creating butterflies in his stomach.

Perhaps a longer, more involved shower was in order. Corrin closed his eyes and sighed as the water hit his bared body, getting used to the temperature before he began to scrub himself meticulously.

Why did the thought of having sex with Silas suddenly start making him nervous? In all their sessions, Silas had been nothing short of a gentleman with him, except for when Corrin had specifically asked him not to be, and yet… for some reason, he felt as though he needed to take extra care of his appearance, in spite of how casual their fling was supposed to be.

After drying himself with the nearest towel – a towel that made him grumble when he realized it was one of Silas’, that he left there the last time he was there – Corrin tugged at his hair, realizing how long it was getting at the back.  
He wondered if he should cut it, but then...

“Hah, no way! I like it… not only because it’s fun to grab, but I also just think it looks good on you!”

Giggling at the memory of when Silas told him that, Corrin caught himself nuzzling the towel. The fact that it was Silas’ and carried a small, faint remainder of the man’s scent was something that brought him comfort, and before he knew it, it was time for him to admit it.

Corrin had broken the cardinal rule of a friends with benefits situation. He had fallen in love with the other person.

The fact that this other person in question was his best friend ever since he was a child, and that he had matured into an incredibly handsome young man was definitely pertinent to how it happened… but Corrin could not place a finger on when, exactly, those feelings changed.

Perhaps they hadn’t changed at all, but merely surfaced from where they were hidden. Swimming right below the surface, as it were.

“Great. I can’t wait!” 

Reading those four words on his phone screen over and over, Corrin seriously wondered to himself how someone could be so cute while essentially just scheduling a good fuck. 

The answer came to him when he remembered any moment they spent together. From that time Silas patched up his leg after he fell, the time they got together to prank Corrin’s adoptive dad, the first time they explored their sexuality together (in what was a very awkward handjob), to that time he bought Silas hair gel and the man proceeded to never change his hairstyle ever again.

Feeling his heart get heavier with the realization that the writing for his feelings was all over the walls, Corrin grabbed his phone again and sent a message.

“I’m on my way. We need to talk.”

Knowing his message was immediately seen by Silas, Corrin felt a pang of regret. He knew he should have worded it differently. 

Being vague about what needed to be talked about never really worked and only made the other person more anxious, and he knew that… but both telling him through the phone or simply dropping it on him when he got there seemed like even worse options, and he knew keeping it to himself would only lead to further pain.

xxx

Silas’ apartment wasn’t actually all that far from Corrin’s. They were in the same neighborhood, after all. He simply chose to start driving there because he became a little bit tired of the looks he was given by people when he walked home in the morning. He supposed it was obvious to them what they had been doing the night before… if they hadn’t already heard them, that is.

The climb up to Silas’ floor seemed to take years. Of course the elevator would be broken at a time like this. He at least hoped he wouldn’t be that sweaty when he got there. He knew confessing would already make him a sweaty mess either way.

After dawdling in front of the door for five minutes, Corrin decided it was time and he then knocked.

Corrin could be mistaken, but he could swear he just heard the sound of someone rushing to the door from inside, even if the man who opened the door was quite composed. “Oh, hey there! You’re certainly early.”

Checking his phone, Corrin noticed Silas was right. Even after all his indecisiveness, he was still half an hour early from the time they usually met, and he hadn’t even noticed it. He hoped to himself that wouldn’t make him seem desperate. 

“So, uh… I got your text,” Silas began, after inviting Corrin inside and sitting himself beside him on the couch. “Is there something wrong? And is there any way I can help?”

Corrin didn’t respond right away. He bit his lower lip and wondered if maybe there was still time to make something up and back out of it.

In that silence, Silas placed his hand on Corrin’s thigh, almost purely by instinct, before quickly removing it. “Maybe tonight is just not the best time for this. It’s okay by me if you just want to hang out, by the way. You’re making the ‘hiding your concerns’ face, you know?”

Silas’ own apparent nervousness had made things easier, somewhat. Taking a deep breath, Corrin began. “Silas, I… I think I’m in love with you.”

Noticing Silas had said nothing and simply looked listlessly to the muted tv in which a rugby match was displayed, Corrin began to panic. He felt his mouth dry up and began to feel acutely aware of how sweaty his hands had become.

Before he could elaborate further, Silas broke the silence. “...And you thought I wouldn’t like that?”

“What?”

“Corrin… come on,” Silas sighed, inching closer to him on the couch and wiping away the tears that had welled up in Corrin’s eyes with his thumb. “I didn’t… really know how to make this any clearer, other than what you just did, but… I love you too.”

Rather than feeling like a weight had been lifted, Corrin felt as if a different weight entirely had been placed on him and that new weight was then lifted off of him.

“You… do?” Corrin numbly replied.

“Corrin, I… I don’t feel the best admitting this, but when I proposed we fool around, I did it because I didn’t know if you felt the same,” Silas confessed, scratching the back of his neck. “It seemed like a big risk to take to just come out and say it but… I guess once again you were the bigger man here, huh?”

The smile Silas gave him then would be a sight Corrin would never forget. The way his dimples framed his face… his dorky, beautiful face, gave him goosebumps, and before he knew it, they were kissing.

Silas’ lips were more tender than Corrin ever thought possible. The way Silas cupped his face and lightly brushed his cheeks with his thumb was positively endearing, and their very proximity seemed to draw them more and more into each other.

“So… where do we go from here?” Corrin asked, experiencing a little difficulty finding words at that moment, with the rapid drumming of his heart.

“Wherever that is… I think we’ll be fine if we go together,” Silas hummed, pressing his forehead against Corrin’s, their breathing becoming synchronized.

“You know… I still brought condoms, so...” Corrin whispered, slowly wrapping his hands around Silas’ waist.

“Well then, I guess that’s a good place as any to start!” Silas snorted.


End file.
